Target group:

Students, student groups and student initiatives at the University of Siegen.

Funding objective:

This funding line provides financial resources (quality improvement funds) for a maximum of 12 months to support student projects to improve teaching and study conditions.

Funding criteria:

Decisive criteria for the assessment of submitted applications are:

• Clearly recognizable contribution to the improvement of teaching and studies at the University of Siegen
• Clearly recognizable project character (defined beginning, defined end)
• Number of benefiting students and the target group of the project
• Realistic time frame
• Realistic and appropriate cost calculation taking into account the legal framework (e.g. procurement guidelines, NRW state travel expenses law) and any follow-up costs
• Sustainability aspect with regard to the continued use of the project content and tools developed
• No pure leisure activities

Object of funding:

Material resources incl. auxiliary staff (with explicit description of the integration of purchases into the project)

Note on auxiliary staff:

Please state in the application how many hours of auxiliary staff you are planning to use and for which activities they are to be used. You can explain this in the application in the work planning or financial plan or in an additional document (max. 1/2 DIN A4 page).

Funding period:

The funding period is a maximum of one year. Shorter project periods within the specified funding periods can also be applied for. The exact funding period will be announced with the approval.

Funding limit:

The funding limit is €6,000/project

Applications can be submitted and resubmitted for all funding periods. However, multiple funding is not possible.

Deadlines:

30.06.2026 / 30.09.2026 / 31.12.2026

Project start:

The project will start at the earliest 3 months after the submission deadline. Planned start dates are from 01.10.2026 / 01.01.2027 / 01.04.2027. A different start date is possible by individual agreement.

Download the following documents from the "Application documents" section:

1. Application form
2. Financing plan
3. Guidelines for preparing the application

Use the guidelines for preparing the application and the working aids in the corresponding section (only available via the intranet or VPN).

The application consists of the following information:

1. application form

• Title of the project and details of the project participants (name, Schools, degree program, contact details). Each application must name a central contact person for the project and a specialist project supervisor.
  Project supervisors act as mentors and advisors. They support the applicants by providing tips and assistance.
  Project supervisors can be any lecturer employed at the University of Siegen. In Schools IV, one of the project supervisors must be a professor.
  → The academic supervisor is an essential prerequisite for participation in the funding competition.
• Description of the planned project (max. 1,500 words):
  
  • Initial situation / problem definition
  • Objective(s) of the planned project, outlining the added value of quality improvement for teaching and/or studies
  • Target group (subject, degree program(s), number of potential participants)
  • Sustainability aspects with regard to the continued use of the project content and tools developed
  • Project duration (maximum until the end of the funding period)
  • Work plan and timetable for the implementation of the individual project phases (preparation, implementation and follow-up) with the name of the person(s) responsible in each case

2. cost plan showing how the funding amount is to be used

With specific details of the measures and the cost estimate (money, material resources, personnel [e.g. SHK, WHB]).

The following must be stated

• Application amount
• Financial requirement incl. VAT p.a.
• For SHK and WHB, desired duration of the contract, number of hours and number
  → Explain how many hours of auxiliary staff are to be used for which activity .
• Short-term employment can be an alternative to the employment of SHK/WHB.
• The application for WHKs and research assistants is only possible in individual cases and must be agreed in advance with the management of the respective Schools.
• Excursion: Each participant must contribute 5% of the total costs. If the personal contribution is less than €10, this is not applicable.
• Please only use the Excel template to prepare the financial plan.

3. assurance of support from the project supervisor or the person responsible for the cost center

(last page of the project application)

Only applications for which all documents have been submitted on time and in full will be reviewed.

The forms are provided in order to make the applications comparable and to keep the administrative workload manageable. Please send additional documents together as a ZIP file.

Please contact us if you are unsure or unclear! Incomplete applications cannot be processed.

Please submit the application documents:

1. Application form as PDF
2. Financing plan (Excel file)

in electronic form to:
lehrentwicklung@uni-siegen.de

Confirmation of receipt of application

You will receive an e-mail confirmation of receipt of the application documents within 14 days of the application deadline.

Funding decision

The Commission for Quality Improvement in Teaching and Studies discusses the projects to be funded. In addition to the committee members, representatives of the Center for Academic Teaching, the Digital Teaching team and the ZIMT also participate in an advisory capacity.

Applicants and project supervisors receive a notification of approval from the administration. There is no entitlement to approval.

Reporting obligations

For projects with a duration of more than 9 months, an interim report must be submitted. After completion of the project or at the latest 2 months after the end of the funding period, a project report of a maximum of 2,000 words must be submitted.

Application documents

• 📄 Application outline (DOCX, 0.194 MB)
• 📄 Financing plan (XLSX 0.754 MB)
• 📄 Guidelines for the preparation of applications (PDF 0.080 MB)

Personnel

• Short-term employment
• KALKöD for personnel - auxiliary staff (WHK, WHB and SHK) [Software for calculating personnel costs in the public sector (only available on the intranet)]
• Contact persons: Department 4.3 Academic Staff, Auxiliary Staff, Lecturers

Procurement

• Service portal
• Legal bases
• Contact persons: Department 1.3 Procurement and customs matters

Financial accounting, e.g. reimbursement of expenses / travel expenses / guest lectures

• Finances / Accounting / Hospitality
• Business trips / guest lectures / travel expenses for external persons / excursions / relocation allowance
• Travel expenses
• Advertising and sponsoring: via the form search in the form center Contact persons Accounts payable / Incoming invoices

OER

• If you have any questions about OER, please contact the OER Service Center